Rough diamond with an eco-conscience Jim Capaldi never really cracked the solo album market, though he brought his melodic sensibilities to bear on 1975’s Short Cut Draw Blood. Enlisting the Muscle Shoals Horns and several Island pals, including Steve Winwood on various instruments (but not vocals), Capaldi dabbled with the fashionable craze for reggae slumming with the mildly JA-flavoured title track and a limp cover of Johnny Too Bad. His own writing was patchy. This was a time when gifted rock stars could knock off any old lyrical tosh and no one seemed to care.
If the album hasn’t weathered well at least the bonus tracks have some spark. The grooved-up Sugar Honey and a peculiar attempt at the Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman Smokie hit If You Think You Know How To Love Me actually stretch Capaldi. 1978’s The Contender, though, was always a feeble affair and, as a repackaged item called Daughter Of The Night in America, it found Jim’s slim songbook at breaking point. The LA players are stellar names, but they can’t paper over the frayed edges of some frankly dull material. Again, the bonus cuts are welcome, but these are bloodless discs.
